A Desktop Particle Accelerator Employing a Pyroelectric Crystal Jon Kalodimos, Kansas State University Dr. Rand Watson,

1. A Desktop Particle Accelerator Employing a Pyroelectric Crystal Jon Kalodimos, Kansas State University Dr. Rand Watson, Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute Can pyroelectric crystals drive D+D fusion? What is a pyroelectric crystal? Lithium Tantalate (LiTaO3) is a type of crystal that has pyroelectric properties, meaning that when it is heated a large electrostatic field is produced on the face of the crystal. Around 100 KeV the D+D fusion cross section is nearing its asymptotic limit. The small box represents the energy of the ions produced with the LiTaO3 we used. Physics of pyroelectricity When a pyroelectric crystal is heated the crystalline structure rearranges producing many “dipoles.” These will align to produce a large electrostatic field. Experimental Setup for determining if a pyroelectic crystal can drive D+D fusion This electrostatic field can grow in excess of 100KV. To utilize as a particle accelerator I characterized the electrostatic potential by measuring the Bremsstrahlung radiation of the freed electron associated with ion production. Note:The motivation behind this experiment is to verify claims the D+D fusion is possible. At the end of the REU program the experiment was setup but due to time constraints wasn’t run. The results of this experiment should be available shortly. In this particular run 100 KeV electrons were produced. Associated with those was a 100 KeV ion beam that is of the order of a nanoAmp